Almost Productive: A podcast mostly about marketing · 2026-03-31 · 15 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
33 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
This coffee break episode explores the philosophy and practice of April Fools' marketing through the lens of three New Boston Creative Group professionals. The hosts debate the ethics of pranks - distinguishing between mean-spirited deception and clever, benign brand humor - before diving into examples of successful marketing stunts. Notable campaigns discussed include IHOP's IHOb rebrand, Burger King's 1998 left-handed Whopper, Burt's Bees' Hidden Valley Ranch lip balm collaboration, Ikea's tiny pet furniture, Honda's PAWS (pet-activated wireless system), Tinder's VP of Ghosting job posting, and Crunch Bar's silent crunch concept. The team explores what makes these effective: feasibility that borders on believable, no actual harm to consumers, and creative use of brand voice. They suggest future opportunities like NFL international relocations, fake AI rental services, Ring camera Sasquatch bounties, and limited-edition novelty flavors from brands like Lay's, emphasizing that many joke products succeed when converted to real limited releases because consumers crave novelty and exclusivity.
IHOP changed their name to IHOb (International House of Burgers) as an April Fools' stunt that fit with their brand and didn't harm anyone.
The episode's research didn't confirm whether Ikea produced the tiny pet furniture or if the joke was simply them entering an existing market space; the hosts note that pet furniture in miniature does exist elsewhere.
Good campaigns are benign (no one is victimized), align with brand voice, are plausible enough to momentarily seem real, and often involve fake products that consumers would actually want to buy.
IHOP (IHOb), Burger King (left-handed Whopper), Burt's Bees (ranch-flavored lip balm), Ikea (pet furniture), Honda (PAWS), Tinder (VP of Ghosting), Crunch Bar (silent wrapper), and Velveeta (nail polish).
PAWS stands for pet-activated wireless system, a humorous announcement that played on Honda's brand while incorporating pet-related humor.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode is predominantly casual banter about April Fools pranks with minimal actionable marketing insight. While a few concrete examples are mentioned (IHOP/IHOb, Burt's Bees/Hidden Valley, Crunch Bar's silent bar), the discussion rarely extracts principles, strategy, or learnings a marketer could apply. Most content consists of listing pranks and reacting to them without analysis.
The world loves a prank, and so do marketing teams. We all have a lot on our plates. Worry, stress, anxiety. So a little April Fool's marketing campaign can be just the ticket to lighten things up.
I think there's also like, there's ones that are. We don't have the technology to make them. They would be great if they could exist.
The episode recycles well-known April Fools campaigns (IHOP/IHOb, Google pranks, Duolingo mascot memes) without fresh framing or counterintuitive takes. The hosts simply list and react to existing stunts rather than developing original frameworks about why pranks work or don't work in marketing. No contrarian perspective or first-principles thinking emerges.
Um, I feel like some of the bigger companies do a good job because it almost seems feasible that they would launch said product, but then it does being like just a little too good to be true.
They're man. Because, yeah, for a while there, every year there were some good ones. Like people were coming out with like, fake products. I want to say Google did one one year that was really good.
The hosts are marketing professionals at New Boston Creative Group, which provides some relevance, but no guest details reveal seniority, scale of work, or major campaign success. The conversation reads as three peers discussing their opinions rather than an interview with a practitioner known for executing successful April Fools campaigns or brand strategy.
I'm, um, Sean.
I'm Julie.
The episode names specific brands and pranks (Burger King's left-handed Whopper, Burt's Bees/Hidden Valley, IKEA tiny pet furniture, Honda PAWS, Crunch Bar's silent bar, Tinder VP of ghosting), but provides almost no data on outcomes: no engagement metrics, conversion rates, reach, ROI, or business impact. Examples are listed as anecdotes, not evidence of what worked or why.
Burger King in 1998, said they were launching a left handed Whopper, which is cute.
Burt's Bees, known for, you know, their skin care, their lip balm. Announced a collaboration with Hidden Valley Ranch for a ranch flavored lip balm.
The hosts ask open-ended questions and build on each other's ideas, showing some conversational competence. However, follow-ups are shallow and rarely push back or dig deeper. When disagreements emerge (whether pranks are mean-spirited, whether products should be real), they're dropped quickly rather than explored. The tone is collegial but not intellectually rigorous.
Yeah, so let's switch gears because Sean, you introduced this. Let's talk about April Fool's stunts in the marketing world. Do you all recall any good ones? Any classics?
Should any of these be real products?
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
Pranks aren’t just for whoopee cushions and hand buzzers - marketing teams get in on the fun, too. In this Coffee Break, the Almost Productive crew explores the world of April Fools' marketing, from fake product launches to brand stunts that actually worked well (and a few that maybe should’ve been real).
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Speaker A: The hand buzzer, the whoopee cushion. The snake in a can. The world loves a prank, and so do marketing teams. We all have a lot on our plates. Worry, stress, anxiety. So a little April Fool's marketing campaign can be just the ticket to lighten things up. Today, we get silly. Well, sillier than usual. But first, this episode of Almost Productive is brought to you by. Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy. Complicating the simple since 1745, bureaucracy. Adding layers of interpretation and oversight to mundane tasks since the year our Lord 1745, bureaucracy. Ensuring leaders and citizens have established frameworks, procedures and norms in place that said frameworks, procedures and norms are followed for the execution of myriad tasks since mdcc. Um, XLV Bureau.
Speaker B: Uh,
Speaker A: Welcome to an Almost Productive coffee break. The same bold flavor of our original podcast brew in a single shot. Perfect for those times when you need a quick marketing pick me up.
Speaker C: I'm, um, Sean.
Speaker A: I'm Julie.
Speaker B: And I'm Addie.
Speaker A: And we are all marketing professionals at New Boston Creative Group in Manhattan, Kansas.
Speaker C: An absolute classic of an intro and a sponsor already.
Speaker A: So let's kick things off for April Fool's Day episode. Where do you all stand on pranks? Do you love them, hate them, mildly amused by them? What's your feeling?
Speaker C: I'm in general not a fan of pranks, I would say, because, um, the ones I enjoy are very specific. And so the idea that we're just gonna give the world just a day of pranks, I don't. I think it's a bad idea.
Speaker B: People are not to be trusted.
Speaker C: Exactly.
Speaker B: I think mean spirited pranks. No, no, not a fan. But like a nice fun between friends. They can be fun.
Speaker C: Right. If we could guarantee that for everybody, then yeah, let's do it.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Uh, but I mean, uh, could you consider that all pranks are at their core mean spirited? You know, you're. They're designed to make someone the butt of a joke. Right?
Speaker B: No.
Speaker A: What. What is a good natured prank?
Speaker C: I think the. If we're talking about like, Mark, are we talking about like all pranks or is like marketing pranks or anything's up for discussion here?
Speaker A: Anything? Because like anything, I think marketing tends to not be like.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker A: You know.
Speaker C: Right. And I think those are all good because you just like, oh, it's a fake product and that's just funny and that sort of way. Um, I think the other, the other type of prank is like, where the person doing the prank is the butt of the joke. Right. It's not a prank on unsuspecting Victims, it's on them. So like you're witnessing whatever silly event, but it's on the person who is, who is doing the pranking. So no one else is sort of in the line of fire, per se. It's the person who's sort of instigating. Uh,
Speaker A: yeah, I like that.
Speaker B: Me too. It's a fine line because I love a surprise. But pranks? Yeah. I think the intention matters a lot. Like if it's with someone that you like and you know their sense of humor and if they would hate what's about to happen or if they would get a kick out of it, you kind of have to know your audience maybe.
Speaker A: Okay, well, so let's switch gears because Sean, you introduced this. Let's talk about April Fool's stunts in the marketing world. Do you all recall any good ones? Any classics?
Speaker C: They're man. Because, yeah, for a while there, every year there were some good ones. Like people were coming out with like, fake products. I want to say Google did one one year that was really good. Um, I feel like some of the bigger companies do a good job because it almost seems feasible that they would launch said product, but then it does being like just a little too good to be true. Or, you know, you get around to the fact that like, okay, this can't exist and that ends up being pretty fun in itself. And you know, again, like, no one's getting hurt by introducing a silly, uh, fake product.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Was it for April Fools that IHOP changed their name to IHOP ihob? Yeah.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker B: That was memorable. That's kind of funny. Fits with the brand. Didn't hurt anyone. That was nice and benign.
Speaker A: Yeah, a couple of the product ones, uh, I looked up, uh, burger King in 1998, said they were launching a left handed Whopper, which is cute. But then you think decades later, Twix started their left Twix, right Twix rivalry. So someone, you know, they didn't steal that idea, but like, that concept lived on and became an actual real marketing campaign for another company. Um, another one. And I thought this was funny for a fake product. Um, this was 2024. Burt's Bees, known for, you know, their skin care, their lip balm. Announced a collaboration with Hidden Valley Ranch for a ranch flavored lip balm.
Speaker C: Yeah, that's great.
Speaker B: I know people who would be so sad that that wasn't true, that they would love a ranch flavored lip balm.
Speaker C: I was gonna. That's kind of exactly what I was gonna say, which is I, uh, like those because Sometimes you end up getting people who think that's actually kind of fun and maybe it can become an actual product because you get enough sort of like, uh, buzz off of it and people go, actually, you know what, that'd be fun. And maybe they can come some limited edition and sort of continue that joke into the reality, which would be even better.
Speaker A: Another one I ran across and I was like, this is real. How is this a joke? But, um, Ikea in 2021 announced tiny furniture for pets. I'm like, that exists?
Speaker B: Did they actually produce the furniture or for them it was a joke. Even though other spaces you can definitely find them?
Speaker A: Uh, that's a great question. My research did not take me that far down the rabbit hole.
Speaker C: Yeah, it makes you wonder, did they know that that space already existed and the joke was just that they were entering that space, or did they think the joke was that it existed at all?
Speaker A: Yeah, could be hard to say. Another pet based one. In 2024, Honda announced a pet activated wireless system, or PAWS for short.
Speaker C: Nice.
Speaker B: Fantastic.
Speaker A: Those were a few that I came up. Does that spark any other, um, pranks or marketing jokes that you all can recall from the past?
Speaker C: This company called New Boston Creative Group M ever heard of it? They did April Fools joke about a new service. They were releasing a mascot, uh, that could attend events and kids parties. It was a gnome. Yeah, that was a good one. I do remember that one. That was really great. It was really great. And yeah, terrifying. Yeah, terrifying like human size gnome.
Speaker A: Because clown nightmares aren't enough.
Speaker C: Exactly. Nice little video of some imagery with that one.
Speaker B: Um, was Duolingo. Was Duo dying part of an April Fool's situation or was that just completely out of the blue?
Speaker A: I think that was out of the blue.
Speaker B: We could call that a prank, I
Speaker A: guess, but yeah, definitely a prank in the prank category.
Speaker B: And that fit with them perfectly. Like everything about that was, yeah. Beautifully in keeping with their brand.
Speaker A: Should any of these be real products?
Speaker C: I think we argued a little bit. Like the Burt's Bees with the Hidden Valley. I think there are some arguments made that some of them, they do make sense to actually produce. I think there's also like, there's ones that are. We don't have the technology to make them. They would be great if they could exist. Uh, but they just, they can't at the moment. But maybe in the future it'll be a little look back and be like, yeah, actually we have that now. That was a prank product, but we have those.
Speaker B: I think that in every space people want Novelty or are drawn to a limited edition release of anything. So I think anytime a product can be made real, it should be because someone's going to buy it.
Speaker A: So how about these two as an example? Would you buy these? Velveeta did a joke in 2023 where they introduced a Velveeta colored liquid gold nail polish.
Speaker B: No.
Speaker A: Yes or no?
Speaker B: No.
Speaker C: I don't see why not.
Speaker A: Oh, okay. How about Crunch Bar in 2025 introduced a silent Crunch bar.
Speaker C: Oh, that's fantastic. That is fantastic.
Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. I don't know if I would buy it, but I would be more likely to buy that than the bad color of nail polish.
Speaker C: It's like the idea of like Nature Valley coming out with a bar that doesn't crumble all over you.
Speaker B: It's just an empty wrapper. That's the whole thing.
Speaker C: They developed it so it actually stays together.
Speaker A: Mhm. Another one I found was not product based, but in 2024, Tinder posted a job listing for a VP of ghosting.
Speaker C: Oh, I like that.
Speaker B: Uh-huh. That's fantastic.
Speaker A: So given the spirit, what are some things you would love to see a brand do, either in general or a specific brand?
Speaker C: The NFL, they would get me if they said they're sending a team to London for good. Yeah, something like that. That would, that would absolutely hit as real.
Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C: Or not just London, but like any. Sending them to any international city. Right. I think there's a, there's an opportunity because we've had a lot of. I shouldn't say a lot. We've had a few of these like, um, AI robots that you can like rent for your home have started popping up. I think there's definitely a space there where you could launch your fake AI robot or similar and have people buy it or believe in it and probably actually purchase it even though it's fake. Uh, pretty easily. I think that could work. Yeah. Even if it's ridiculously priced at like only, uh, for the low cost of $80,000 a month. Exactly.
Speaker A: And maybe if it only does like one ridiculous task, like it's not even a useful robot. It, you know, uh, empties your kitty litter for $80,000.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker B: Yeah. This isn't a fully formed thought, but the first thing that popped into my head was something with the ring cameras, like telling people if you capture Sasquatch on your ring camera and send us the footage, like, we'll give you a reward of.
Speaker C: That's a good one.
Speaker A: I like that.
Speaker B: Dollars, like, or, uh, yeah, some. I like playing in that space. Mhm.
Speaker C: Yeah. Combining some sort of like supernatural thing with your actual product. That's fun.
Speaker B: I also, they've done this before. I don't think it was specific for April Fools or a Prank, but lay's potato chips, having people send in ideas for flavor combinations. Like, you could do something really wacky with a new flavor of chips. That's as zany as I got.
Speaker C: Yeah, I think that falls into, like, why just make those, like, just make it real. Like, if you've got a fun flavor, just do it.
Speaker B: Definitely.
Speaker A: And Addie, like you were saying before, make it a limited release.
Speaker B: Yes. People love that.
Speaker C: Yeah. Even as someone who probably doesn't buy those, I think that's fun when they, when they try weird things like that and cross, like cross brands in that way. I think that's always interesting.
Speaker A: Well, excellent work everyone. That's it for today's episode. And the April Fool's joke today is no jokes at the end.
Speaker B: Hey, Almost Perfect.
Speaker A: Thank you for listening to this episode of Almost Productive. If you'd like to learn more about what we do at, uh, New Boston Creative Group, you can reach out to us at New. You can also follow us on social media, ewbostoncreative on Instagram and New Boston Creative Group on Facebook and LinkedIn. If you liked this episode, please, like, follow, subscribe, leave a review and share the podcast with your friends. And if you didn't like the show, feel free to recommend us to your enemies. Tune in next time for some more office shenanigans, thoughts on trending topics and marketing adjacent insights. Until next time, we hope you have a productive day.
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Avoiding Scams: Coffee Break Episode 2249 / 100Marketing Match Game: Episode 2027 / 100Keeping Up With Trends: Coffee Break Episode 2139 / 100March Madness Spring Cleaning: Episode 19Super Bowl Commercials 2026: Coffee Break Episode 19
